Fluorescent lamps or lamps for fluorescent tubes are being used more and more frequently in place of conventional filament lamps since they have a longer service life and are more economical in their consumption of energy. Moreover, it is possible in a simple manner to obtain light of any desired color, particularly; light similar to daylight, with the aid of fluorescent lamps. Because of the advantages of fluorescent lamps it has become common to equip work spaces and storehouses with them. Such fluorescent lamps are generally configured as extended and firmly mounted ceiling lights.
Fluorescent lamps have also been developed that are suited for illuminating smaller spaces or that can be used for orientation purposes. Thus, a fluorescent lamp is known from EP-A 0,233,529 in which the connector element is configured as a plug element with plug contacts projecting from one side and electrically connected to the fluorescent lamp tube, the housing is oblong in shape and composed of two half-shells that can be separated in the axial direction, the area adjacent to the plug contacts in the plug element is molded out of the housing consisting of half-shells and the plug element is arranged on a long side of the housing and projects vertically from this long side.
The lamps made of plastic as described therein have proven themselves very well. In using them, however, it was often considered unsatisfactory that these lamps do not have an on/off switch. Furthermore, because of the manufacturing method, the fluorescent tube cannot be exchanged after its service life expires, so that the lamp is no longer usable in case of a defective fluorescent tube. This disadvantage is caused by the half-shell mode of construction, since the electrical equipment needed for operating the lamp is integrated along with the fluorescent tube into the lamp interior, and the housing consisting of the two half-shells is closed and welded shut around the electrical equipment. Even if the translucent illumination field cover is removed, the fluorescent tube cannot be exchanged, since it is rigidly integrated into the housing.